To:
People of faith and moral courage

In Solidarity with the Tree of Life Synagogue, We Pray and We Pledge!

From Oak Creek to Charleston and Birmingham to Pittsburgh, people of faith and moral courage have always been nourished by holy space and holy time.

Our temples, churches, synagogues, and holy days are refuges in which we gather to remember this: we’re bound together in life, faith, family, community, and common practice.

As people of faith and moral courage, we’re reeling from the massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA.

While a Jewish congregation at Shabbat worship welcomed a new life into their community, a man broke into that holy space and time to turn joy, celebration, and life into sorrow, pain, and death.

This man was fueled by the same White nationalist death-dealing hate that desecrated the Oak Creek Temple in Wisconsin, Mother Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina, 16th Street Baptist Church in Alabama, and First Baptist Church in Kentucky.

We reject the anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, xenophobic, nationalist, and racist ideologies that motivated him, and we repudiate every politician and public policy that, moved by these same ideologies, diminishes people’s ability to live whole, well, and free.

For all those affected by the massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue, we pray. We grieve with the families of the eleven people who died. May their memories be for a blessing!

And we pray for the wounded living at Tree of Life and those witnessing in solidarity all over the country. May we pledge our lives to life’s triumph over death!

Why is this important?

Today, we stand together in solidarity and love, as people from different faiths, backgrounds, and states.

We stand with Jewish people across our country, understanding that attacks on one community’s sacred spaces fray the ties that bind us all.

And we recommit ourselves to work with all people targeted by hateful ideologies and every form of nationalist violence.

Pray and Pledge
Add your name to tell the congregations at the Tree of Life Synagogue that you stand with them.

Tell them what you’re praying for, and what good work you pledge yourself to in your community!

E.g. “I pray… that I remember the humanity of my neighbors each day because tragedy calls us to expand our hearts.”

“I pledge... to speak up and step in when I see someone being attacked in public for who they are.”

“I pray… that the entire Jewish community of Pittsburgh feel our love and support through the days ahead.”

“I pledge… to press my representatives to pass comprehensive gun reform, take a public stand against White nationalism, and take my values to the polls.”

“I pray… that I have the courage to continue to welcome and tend to those in need.”

“I pledge… to bear witness to the children in Tornillo and support the families HIAS helps resettle across the country.”